


The Bright Side

by Dzuljeta



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Confusion, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Jealous of Yourself Can Never End Well, Getting to Know Each Other, Jealousy, Kissing, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Time Lady Rose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2020-05-13 05:16:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19244578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dzuljeta/pseuds/Dzuljeta
Summary: Rose finally spots the Doctor’s TARDIS. But the Doctor she finds aboard is not the one she was expecting to see.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> BBC owns everything.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Should I begin explaining myself? No. I have been planning to finish my _Ice Cream_ series, then an actual real-life heatwave arrived and messed everything up.

**The Bright Side**

**1.**

Rose has become a desired conquest almost once she has appeared in Pete's World. A newly-discovered young and gorgeous daughter of an unbelievably wealthy family has suddenly interested almost every single man in England, some of them three times as old as Rose was.

All she kept doing was rejecting them, at least until the Doctor entered the scene. Or, to make matters simpler, until Rose has spotted the TARDIS, standing there barely noticeable.

Taking out her well-kept key to the ship’s door, she has unlocked it thoughtlessly…. And backed away to the door, now conveniently closed after she entered. This was  _ not  _ her Doctor’s TARDIS. She has just entered a space belonging to someone else! To some other version of the Doctor!

She was seriously considering leaving this TARDIS, but the ship was of a different opinion and has stopped the girl from leaving by creating an invisible wall and thus blocking her way. 

“You are not the one I’m looking for,” Rose breathed sadly at the sentient vessel. “I don’t think your Doctor is  _ my  _ Doctor, I’m sorry, dear!”

The old girl let out a sound which has resembled both a sigh and a giggle.

_ What are you implying, old girl?  _ Rose didn’t even think about trying to hide her abilities from the all-sensing ship.

She didn’t get much time to ponder on this situation. The owner of the TARDIS has arrived, it was likely he hasn’t been gone anywhere.

"The TARDIS tells me," the Time Lord addressed her curiously, not at all worried, "that you wanted to see me?" The eighth Doctor was surprised about his ship allowing strangers aboard. Rose froze, not daring to turn around and face the Doctor. 

"Don't worry. If you are not an accomplice of the Master, you are safe," the unfamiliar Doctor said.

Rose inhaled. "I'm sorry. Which one are you?"

The Doctor feigned ignorance. "I beg your pardon?"

"You are not my Doctor," the girl tried to remain  calm, not wanting to anger him. "Not the one I am looking for," she said sadly.

"You should at least turn around to look at me, in the first place," he reminded, his voice as guarded as Rose's was.

"What is the point? I must continue looking for the Doctor!"

The eighth Doctor did not intend to let this unfamiliar woman go, not before he's got to know more.

"I may be able to help, just look at me!"

Rose shuddered, disillusioned. "I have travelled so far-"

She didn't turn to face him.

The eighth doctor smiled to himself. "How do they call you?"

Rose answered without thinking, her self-defence mechanisms kicking in. "Bad Wolf."

The Time Lord chuckled. "This sounds like a nickname. What is your given name?"

"Rose."

"I'd tell you it was nice to meet you, Rose, but I haven't seen your face as of yet."

“Could you please ask the TARDIS to allow me to leave?”

The Doctor sighed. “Leave and go where?”

“To keep searching.”

Rose realised it hasn’t been fair towards the Doctor to avoid looking at him and turned around, meeting a dazzling supportive smile of the Time Lord.

The eighth Doctor was pleasantly surprised. Whoever she was, she was breathtakingly gorgeous.

“I don’t know who you are, Rose. Don’t know which version of me you’re looking for, but you don’t feel like any kind of a bad person. I am willing to help you.”

Rose’s eyes brightened up. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

The Doctor brushed it off, smiling kindly at her. “So? Which version of me are we looking for?” He didn’t want to keep the girl waiting.

Rose gulped, realising this Doctor has very likely not experienced the destruction of his home planet yet. His eyes were bright and tender.

“I have known the ninth and the tenth versions of yours, Doctor. Which one are you?” She asked again.

“Does it need saying?”

Rose paled, not having expected to be hit so hard with this dreadful phrase. By a stranger, nonetheless...

The Doctor understood it differently. “What I mean, Rose, is I intend to help you, no matter what. I don’t think it should matter to you whether I am the eighth or the sixth.”

The girl inhaled, composing herself. “Maybe.”

“Why are you looking for him?”

“I  _ need _ him.”

The Time Lord looked at her intently, swallowing a gasp. This Rose was no ordinary human. “Is there anything I should know, my dear?”

Rose exhaled. “You are supposed to know. My Doctor still has no idea what has been happening to me after our brutal separation,” she finished quietly.

The Time Lord gave her a soothing look. “You don’t need to tell me any of the details. Just tell me one thing. Have kisses been a part of your relationship?”

Rose was startled. “Why do you need to know?”

The Doctor blushed. “I need to know if kissing you would grant me some essential information in looking for him,” he said emotionlessly.

“Do you need the exact number?”

“Did you count?”

Rose sighed. “Oh, I didn’t need to. Is there any other way?”

The Doctor panicked. “Entering someone’s mind isn’t a practice approved of on Gallifrey. Even more so that of a stranger!”

Rose gulped. “We are not on Gallifrey right now. Are you sure you can’t help?”

The Doctor took Rose by the hand. “It’s unusual, but I must live up to my name and title. Close your eyes and relax… Rose.”

* * *

 

What he has found inside her mind has almost frightened him. The feeling of longing and of love, very likely unrequited.

 

_ Do you think your Doctor deserves you?  _ He couldn’t help asking, knowing having telepathic conversations might not even work.

_ I love him. He loves me. _

The Doctor was no fool and realised some things still needed to be settled between them.  _ Even if he never says it out loud? _

Rose backed away from him. “Some things don’t need to be said.”

He nodded.

“Better tell me if you have found a way to trace him,” the fair-haired girl was hopeful.

“Yes. In fact, I think he’s looking for you as we speak,” the Doctor assured her, ready to do anything to keep the dazzling smile on her face for as long as possible.

Rose shook her head. “I admire your optimism, Doctor. But my being stuck inside a parallel universe must have changed things greatly.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Previously…**

_“I admire your optimism, Doctor. But my being stuck inside a parallel universe must have changed things greatly.”_

* * *

 

 

**The Bright Side**

**2.**

 

“Do I need to know something?” The eighth Doctor asked her quietly.

Rose exhaled. “I’m afraid my time spent in the parallel universe has only made me more bitter and less trusting,” she said. 

He sighed. “You know I can only assist you, Rose. Direct your Doctor our way. But you are the one knowing him best. You are supposed to be the one calling him here, dear.”

Rose gulped. “Do you think he’d still want me?”

“I’m certain of it!” The Doctor’s excitement put a smile on her face. “Do you want me to try and contact him? Right now?” The eighth Doctor asked her plainly.

Rose was surprised. “Do you mean it’s possible? Without messing up timelines?”

“Future has a tendency to change, Rose,” he chuckled. “We know who we’re looking for, so there’s that! Besides, he knows me. All that can happen to me is a bit of a headache.”

“Are you sure?”

The eighth Doctor smiled at her assuringly. “Apparently, I have managed to regenerate several times after this version of me, so there’s nothing to worry about!”

Rose nodded at him, watching at the Doctor looking nothing short of a dazzling epitome of elegance in awe.

 

“Hello, Doctor.”

The older version of himself panicked, knowing exactly who was calling. But why?

“Hi. I don’t know why you’re calling, but something terrible must’ve happened, am I right?”

“Not terrible. Far from it. A certain Rose is looking for you.”

The tenth Doctor inhaled. “You can’t mean that. My Rose is lost inside a parallel universe.”

“Is she, really?” His voice was challenging. “Or are you afraid to  face her again, assuming you two have never-”

Rose’s Doctor hasn’t been ready to believe in the apparently impossible. Rose Tyler has been the only one making him believe impossibilities were practically non-existent for a race as advanced as his.

“If only it were possible,” the incredulous Time Lord muttered. “You must know as well as I do crossing dimensions and meeting each other so thoughtlessly could only cause irreparable harm!”

“Thoughtlessly,” he mimicked. “I can’t help but wonder how incredulous my upcoming life must have made you.”

 

 _Without Rose - very,_ her Doctor breathed to himself.

“Are you coming to see her, or not?” The eighth Doctor decided to be brash.

His response stunned both the younger Doctor and Rose. “Well… I wish I could, but-” _I’m not ready. I don’t feel like myself. I’m afraid._

Rose breathed out, not daring to openly use telepathy right away. “What are you afraid of, Doctor? Are you afraid I have changed enough not to love you any more?”

The Time Lord was shocked. It has truly been her, his brilliant Rose Tyler! 

“I- I can’t know, can I?” He attempted to tease her.

She breathed. “This is not a suitable situation, Doctor. I am stuck here inside an unfamiliar TARDIS, with a questionable amount of time left for until you arrived.”

The eighth Doctor was unhappy with her choice of words, but said nothing.

“I don’t know if I should trust you,” the tenth Doctor remembered himself. “Probably not. It’s unbelievably easy to fool anyone with a broken heart and you two may be a team of-” He hung up.

Rose wasn’t expecting this. The Doctor, her Doctor, not wanting to trust her-

“You don’t need to worry, my dear. Who knows how complicated it may be to cross universes?”

“I do,” she exhaled.

The Time Lord by her side blushed. How could he be so stupid?

“Of course, you do. I’m sorry.”

Rose gulped. “What are we going to do now?”

“Wait,” he said calmly. “Even Time Lords need some time to grasp shocking realisations. “Assuming you haven’t been a Time Lady when the two of you got separated?”

“No.”

“See? What’s more, telephones can’t and won’t transmit a lot of things one can only understand when meeting in person.”

The girl panicked. “What if he never tries to contact us again?”

“By telephone - absolutely not. I’m sure he’d want to come and see you for himself.”

Rose sent him a small smile. “Do you really think so?”

“Absolutely. It depends on how long it takes for him to realise you are truly here, staying with me. If it takes him _too_ long, I might need to kiss you, after all,” he beamed at her. “Such a close contact would certainly wake something in him.”

Rose blinked at the still unfamiliar Doctor, dubious. “Are you sure? All it _can_ wake up is the green monster of jealousy inside my Doctor, I think.”

“That’s exactly what I’m counting on, Rose. All is fair in love and war.”

“Nothing’s fair with war,” she shrugged, hoping she wouldn’t accidentally imply to him what nightmare is waiting for him.

The eighth Doctor agreed with her. _You’re right, of course, Rose,_ he sent her softly. _Violence is never right._

The fair-haired girl blinked at him, puzzled. Has the younger Doctor been testing her abilities in telepathy?

She didn’t get more time to ponder upon it, startled by an unexpected telepathic question given to her by the Doctor she has been looking for. Up to the moment, she didn’t dare to imagine the Time Lord was going to see her change in nature.

However, she realised she didn’t need to worry about that. As far from reasonable explanations as it went, the Doctor realised this has truly been some unbelievably interesting, perhaps even a bit unreasonable occurrence, but this was not the point..

 _I have a single question to give you, my Rose. About the Doctor you’re currently with. Before or after?_ The tenth Doctor’s coded demand has worked brilliantly.

 _Before,_ Rose breathed, unsure how the eighth Doctor was going to  react to this.

He did react to it, finding it amusing rather than worrying. “I think it’s wonderful how little it takes to make the two of you only hear each other. What is my role in all this?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Previously…**

 

_ He did react to it, finding it amusing rather than worrying. “I think it’s wonderful how little it takes to make the two of you only hear each other. What’s my role in all this?” _

* * *

 

 

**The Bright Side**

 

**3.**

 

Rose inhaled. “I can’t say for certain. Not until I get my Doctor back.”

The eighth Doctor nodded, not wanting to fill her mind with illusions merely hearing her Doctor’s voice again meant he was going to come to them any time soon.

“I apologise, my dear. You must know crossing timelines, even more so parallel universes doesn’t mean he is going to join us here in a blink of an eye?”

The girl smiled at him sadly. “I know. Have had enough chances to experience the tricks of Time and those of time travel.”

The eighth Doctor took her by the hand, happy to hear an involuntary sigh of delight leave her lips.  _ It feels just like… _

The tenth Doctor had been listening quietly. Merely getting to hear Rose’s voice again has felt like a miracle. 

“You may have forgotten to hang up the phone,” he said with a chuckle.

“I have done it on purpose. What do you think, how long it’s going to take for you to come here?”

“Not very long,” the older Doctor sighed. “In the meanwhile, look after my Rose. Changed physiology may cause her unwanted trouble.”

“I promise,” the eighth version of the Doctor spoke honestly, allowing the line to die down on its own.

Rose saw guilt and discomfort on the Time Lord’s face, the emotions soon giving way to panic and dread. “What’s wrong, Doctor? You look as if you’ve just seen a corpse!”

“ _ Multiple _ corpses, thank you very much! My planet burning… Is this what I have become? A murderer?!”

“I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t think you would  _ dare _ to keep this from me,” the eighth Doctor spoke. disillusioned.

 “You are still but a stranger to me, Doctor! What do you think I needed to do? Break you apart with such…”

“I am a Time Lord, Rose. It’s not easy to  _ break us apart. _ ”

“I know. Have known two different versions of you. Your talent in pretending is exceptional.”

“Are you saying I have been insincere with you?”

_ You have no idea. _

“I don’t want to tell you more than is allowed by accident,” Rose remembered herself.

“I don’t think accidentally getting to know the unavoidable is that big a problem. Not in the world of Time Lords.”

Rose smiled at him sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t you worry, my dear. What has to happen, is going to happen,” he spoke soothingly. Seeing Rose close to tears has brought something back. The need to protect this young woman from harm, no matter what it took. 

Rose understood keeping the Doctor’s attention off her may calm them both down somewhat.

“How do you think, Doctor, how long is  _ not very long? _ ” She remembered.

“Hours? Days? Weeks? I really can’t say, I’m sorry! Time is an entity impossible to get hold of completely, particularly not by the Time Lord standards. I apologise I can’t tell you more than that, dear. But know it is my duty to keep you safe and sound, Rose Tyler.” 

Rose inhaled, feeling strangely betrayed. The way he has said her name sounded dry and stiff. “Is this it? Keeping me at a hand’s length just so you could be sure nothing bad happens to your future lover?”

The eighth Doctor blushed uncomfortably.  _ I am trying to keep my myself from giving in to this raw sensation of entering the future not belonging to me. Understand, Rose. Meeting with different regenerations of mine is risky enough, but making enemies with myself because both variations of me admire the same woman at the same time is out of the question. _

The eighth Doctor was using telepathic communication for a reason. It has been considerably easier for a Time Lord to reach for another one of his kind in the telepathic field. The one thing the younger alien didn’t consider was that right now, inside the time Rose’s Doctor was in, every attempt to reach for any version of himself was going to be successful. 

The realisation hit him the next second. All the younger Doctor could do was sigh heavily.

_ Doctor?  _ Rose tried, concerned about his well-being.  _ Is there anything I could do to make you feel better? _

The eighth Doctor sighed again. “Oh, Rose...” He knew what falling for a person out of his timeline meant. Knew Rose Tyler belonged with his other self, but also knew he’d end up regretting not telling her how glad he is to have met her. 

“Let’s not use telepathy, please,” he asked. “Your Doctor would likely go livid , if he heard me telling these things to you.”

Rose smiled at him innocently. “What things?”

“I have never imagined this incredible encounter with the woman of my life… from the future was ever going to take place. If only I could ask you for one tiny thing, to make sure this gesture won’t be misunderstood-”

Rose beamed at the younger Time Lord, never doubting in what he was likely going to ask her. “Close your eyes, Doctor,” she whispered. “I know you Time Lords can force yourselves to forget things.”

The elegant younger Doctor chuckled. “You keep forgetting you are also a part of our species. One of us Time Lords. A Time Lady, to be precise,” he winked at her. The Doctor understood accepting such drastic changes must be difficult, but closed his eyes, as requested. 

Rose planted the most tender of kisses on his lips, moving away the following instant. “Not now. I can’t give you more than that,” she apologised.

The Doctor nodded, happy with what he has been given.

_ What in the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?! Kissing my companions?! Encouraging my Rose to- _

As expected, the tenth Doctor was burning with rage. 

_ I am only giving her something you, apparently, cannot. Since you’re still wasting time on doing whatever instead of concentrating on finding your way to us,  _ the eighth Doctor sent him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Previously…**

 

What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?! Kissing my companions?! Encouraging my Rose to-

 

_ As expected, the tenth Doctor was burning with rage. _

 

I am only giving her something you, apparently, cannot. Since you're still wasting time on doing whatever instead of concentrating on finding your way to us,  _ the eighth Doctor sent him. _

 

**The Bright Side**

 

**4.**

 

The younger Time Lord inhaled. He knew the easiest way for his other self to get to Rose was to get her excited enough to make the older one furious.

"See, Rose, it's likely he needs some encouragement," he smiled at her.

"So… What is the plan? We kiss and the Doctor arrives, determined to kill you?" She giggled.

"I'm sure we wouldn't come to that. Besides, I can see you love him. Not me. I couldn’t-”

“You don’t look like someone who could,” Rose smiled at him, suddenly remembering what he was going to do in the future and shuddering unwillingly.

“What is it, dear?”

“No, nothing!”

“Are you cold? I could put the temperature up?”

“Thanks,” Rose nodded, not feeling cold in the slightest. “I’m sure-”

“Everything’s going to be fine. The TARDIS is going to make sure your stay here is comfortable," the Doctor assured her.

"Thanks," Rose breathed, feeling the temperature aboard rise.

Sadly, her supposed newly-acquired tolerance for sudden temperature changes hasn't been there yet, not fully. Rose realised she shouldn't have agreed to his assumption about her being cold.

"Could you please return the warmth to what it has been, moments ago?" She asked uncomfortably. "I may have been imagining things-”

“Of course, Rose!” He said automatically. The Doctor wasn’t going to accidentally make Rose fall ill, as long as he could prevent it.

Then, he saw the sudden change in the girl’s complexion.  _ Rose? _

“I don’t feel very well,” she admitted. “Must have spent too much energy on trying to- to-” She clung to the Time Lord for support. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I shouldn’t have come here, in the first place.”

“Don’t say it, my dear. You have come here, because you were supposed to,” the eighth Doctor assured her. “The TARDIS has brought me here for a reason.”

Rose inhaled, bitter. “Do you know what this means?”

“Yes,” he sighed. The sudden move of the TARDIS may have complicated the tenth Doctor’s efforts to find them. 

Then, it hit him. If his future version has subconsciously still been looking for the human Rose, even when fully aware of her new Time Lady nature, his tries to reach for them may end up being futile yet again. The vibes of a Time Lord or Lady have been considerably, or… almost entirely different from those of humans.

"Don't worry, Rose. I'll try to contact him again,” he said calmingly, but his mind was filled with various scenarios. Who could say, maybe the older Time Lord has been too terrified to meet the girl, not knowing what could have happened to her after the change?

_ I love her, you fool.  _

The owner of the TARDIS nodded to himself. The other version of himself has been trying to reach for them, opening the telepathic connection freely.

_ It's dangerous, you must know. You may run into someone knowing how to employ telepathy. Someone may try to enter your mind. _

The tenth Doctor chuckled.  _ I don't know what makes you think so, honestly, but these things can be easily avoided, when needed. You know that. Right now, it must be kept open. _

The younger Time Lord nodded to himself.

_ I understand you'd prefer talking to your girlfriend _ . The eighth Doctor was trying to get as much information from his future self as possible. Rose couldn't find it in herself to listen to the conversation and has excused herself, feeling the old girl was going to be on her side. Just as expected, the TARDIS has directed her into a nice room just far enough for her not to hear the chat, telepathic or not.

_ Thanks,  _ Rose sent her, feeling she was being surrounded with love and support at once.

 

Meanwhile, the tenth Doctor inhaled, insulted.  _ Girlfriend? We're so much more than that. _

The younger version of the Doctor sighed.  _ Oh dear. You're not even that, you mean. If you keep telling me you love her, why can't you tell the words to the one they are meant to? Or are you too afraid? _

Rose’s Doctor paled. The younger version of himself was right.

_ It seems you know the answers better than I do. Tell me, what do you think I should do? _

The eighth Doctor sighed.  _ Stop being a fool and begin looking for the woman you love. We won't be going anywhere. _

The older one harrumphed, displeased.  _ I'll see what I can do. _

_ Rose may not be willing to wait for you forever, after all,  _ a serious warning reached the tenth Doctor and he realised his other version has blocked the connection between them, just like that.

"Rassilon!" The tenth Doctor swore. It was clear what his younger self wanted to do - to challenge him. But no-one could ever challenge his love for Rose. If this youngster didn't know that much, he was more than eager to show it to him.

Well, as soon as he has found the other one’s ship. Sadly, it seemed the TARDIS herself was complicating things. “What is it? What do you want me to do? You know I can’t confess my feelings to her without even knowing where Rose is!”

The old girl knew exactly where the younger Doctor’s vessel has been. That didn’t mean she was going to cooperate in bringing him to his Rose right away

_ Why? What have I done?  _ The Doctor was desperate.

_ More like what you haven’t done, Doctor. _

“What do you mean?”

_ Your younger self understands. I’m not bringing you to Rose until you do. _

The Time Lord inhaled, letting go of telepathy whatsoever, “What do you mean, he understands? How could he? Besides, I know you love Rose. Why can’t you-”

“Traces of parallel universe are still all over her.”

“So?”

"I can't do anything with those blocking our connection."

"I see," the Doctor said, angry and puzzled. "Is the younger me supposed to be the one getting those off her?"

"If you don't get to them soon, he may. But he needs to save his energy for you-know-what."

The alien nodded. He realised this was a now-or-never moment.


End file.
